1703
}} Year 1703 (MDCCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). 1703 of the Swedish calendar was a common year starting on Wednesday, one day ahead of the Julian calendar. Events of 1703 : 47 samurai.]] January - June * February 2 - An earthquake hits the town of L'Aquila, Italy. * February 4 - In Japan, the 47 samurai (47 Ronin) commit seppuku, a ritual suicide. * February 14 - An earthquake hits Norcia, Italy. * February - Soldiers at Fort Louis de la Mobile celebrate Mardi Gras in Mobile, starting the tradition for Mobile. * April 21 - Company of Quenching of Fire (i.e., a fire brigade) founded in Edinburgh, Scotland. * May 27 - Founding of St Petersburg in Russia. * May 26 - Portugal joins the Grand Alliance. July - December : Defoe.]] : Great Storm of 1703.]] * July 29-31 - Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory then imprisoned 4 months for the crime of seditious libel, after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet (his release is granted mid-November). * September 12 - War of the Spanish Succession – Habsburg Archduke Charles proclaimed King of Spain. * October - A whirlwind blows down the tower of the Gan Takal in Gondar, capital of Ethiopia, killing 30. * November 19 - Unknown masked prisoner dies in Bastille. * November 24 to December 2 - the Great Storm of 1703, an Atlantic hurricane, ravages southern England and the English Channel, killing nearly 8000, mostly at sea. * December 27 - Portugal and England sign the Methuen Treaty which gives preference to Portuguese imported wines into England. Undated * A Tale of a Tub, first major satire by Jonathan Swift, is published. * George Psalmanazar arrives in London. * Isaac Newton becomes the chairman of the Royal Society. * Ahmed III (1703-1730) succeeds Mustafa II (1695-1703) as emperor of the Ottoman Empire. Births * February 5 - Gilbert Tennent, Irish-born religious leader (died 1764) * March 5 (N. S.) - Vasily Kirillovich Trediakovsky, Russian poet (died 1768) * May 14 - David Brearly, delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention (died 1785) * June 17 - John Wesley, English founder of Methodism (died 1791) * June 26 - Thomas Clap, first president of Yale University (died 1767) * August 2 - Lorenzo Ricci, Italian Jesuit leader (died 1775) *September 29 - François Boucher, French painter (died 1770) * October 5 - Jonathan Edwards, American preacher (died 1758) * October 28 - Antoine Deparcieux, French mathematician (died 1768) * November 25 - Jean-François Séguier, French astronomer and botanist (died 1784) * November 26 - Theophilus Cibber, English actor and writer (died 1758) * December 2 - Ferdinand Konščak, Croatian explorer (died 1759) : See also 1703 births. Deaths *January 11 - Johann Georg Graevius, German classical scholar and critic (born 1632) *March 3 - Robert Hooke, English scientist (born 1635) *March 31 - Johann Christoph Bach, German composer (born 1642) *April 20 - Lancelot Addison, English royal chaplain (born 1632) *May 16 - Charles Perrault, French author (born 1628) *May 26 - Samuel Pepys, English civil servant and diarist (born 1633) *June 14 - Jean Herauld Gourville, French adventurer (born 1625) *September 22 - Vincenzo Viviani, Italian mathematician and scientist (born 1622) *September 25 - Archibald Campbell, Scottish privy councillor (born 1658) *September 29 - Charles de Saint-Évremond, French soldier (born 1610) *October 28 - John Wallis, English mathematician (born 1616) *November 19 - The Man in the Iron Mask *November 30 - Nicolas de Grigny, French organist and composer (born 1672) *December 28 - Mustafa II, Ottoman Sultan (born 1664) *''date unknown'' - Phetracha, king of Ayutthaya (born 1632) : See also 1703 deaths.